


help us most to grow

by ten_miles_til_midnight



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-26
Updated: 2012-06-26
Packaged: 2017-11-08 14:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/444186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ten_miles_til_midnight/pseuds/ten_miles_til_midnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam hadn’t used to be so handsy. And then he joined One Direction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	help us most to grow

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "For Good" from Wicked, which is a bit cheap, I know, but it beats the working title, which was once more with feelings. Thanks to harriet_vane for encouragement and for reminding me that I should stick to the same tense throughout. And for sucking me into this entire madness in the first place, I guess.

Liam hadn’t used to be so handsy. And then he joined One Direction.

It was Liam’s first trip home since the album dropped and the Up All Night tour, and while he remembered being bored when he was home over Christmas, after the American tour and the press and interviews and being on Saturday Night Live, boredom actually sounded pretty great.

It was his first night home, and Ruth and Nicola were watching telly on the couch when Liam wandered through on his way to the kitchen. "Is that Glee?" Liam asked.

"Mmhmm," Ruth said. "It's the one where Kurt sings that song from Evita."

"I love this one. Push over," he told his sisters, clambering over the back of the loveseat to squeeze into the small space between them.

"Li-am," Nicola complained. "There's a chair right there."

"But I'm already sitting down," Liam told her, shifting until the girls rearranged themselves so all three were wedged into the small space.

"Missed us, did you?" Ruth asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Liam told her, casually flinging an arm around his sister as he tried to harmonize with The Warblers's version of “Somewhere Only We Know.” "How wild is it that Glee's actually covered one of our songs?!"

***

Liam spent the first day of vacation being gloriously lazy: sleeping late, washing his clothes and enjoying a regular shower that wasn't at a venue after a show. He went for a long run and spent the afternoon watching reruns with Ruth and messing around on the piano, but after the first day, the lethargy started to drive him crazy, and he was excited when the weekend rolled about and his school friends were free.

Liam had been home at Christmas, but the Up All Night tour started in early January and he had needed to stop by London before going to Bournemouth for training, so this was the first time he'd seen any of his friends since before Up All Night was released, and as much as he loved his band, he missed his normal friends.

Liam had known Andy since they were in primary school. They were both quiet, serious children who spent hours playing with toy cars and blocks in the backyard. Seth had been Liam’s lab partner in biology and sat with him at lunch, and they’d been friends ever since. Andy and Seth were quiet and reserved and had never once tried to lick or bite Liam.

Andy and Seth both come home for the weekend and they meet at a bowling alley Friday night. Liam was the last to arrive because he had to wait forever for Ruth to give him a lift.

"Fashionable late, eh Payne," Andy shouted as Liam climbed out of the car.

Liam laughed. "It was Ruth you were waiting on," he protested.

Andy gave him a critical look. "Maybe. It looks like your hair takes less long to fix now."

"Shove it, you twat," Liam told him, grinning. He flung an arm around Andy and pulled him into a proper hug. "It's been ages since I saw you guys."

"Well, you've been busy," Seth said.

"It's been a crazy year," Liam allowed, letting Andy go and giving Seth a hug in greeting.

"Come on, let's bowl."

Liam was no good at bowling.

"You are truly terrible at bowling," Seth told him solemnly after Liam rolled his last ball with a commanding score of 18.

Liam laughed and sat down next to Seth, stretching his legs out and bumping his knee against the other boy's. "Fine, Mr. I Have 120 Points And Have Managed To Knock At Least One Pin Down Each Turn. Show me how it's done."

Seth glanced down at the long line where their legs touched and where Liam's borrowed bowling shoe rested on Seth’s ankle, then glanced at the row of empty chairs across the table, and shot Liam a strange look before shaking it off, standing up and saying, "Watch and learn, young Padawan. Watch and learn."

***

The next afternoon, Andy, Seth and his girlfriend Amy dragged Liam out to the shops. It felt weird being out without the other guys and the constant buzz of attention that usually surrounded them, but Amy had a mission and promptly led them into a bright shop full of costume jewelry and improbably decorated hats.

Liam barely knew Amy - Andy had met her at uni after Liam had left for the X Factor - but she was cheerful and sunny and after spending a weekend with his old friends, who were a lot more reserved than Liam remembered them being, Amy's bright, easy laugh was strangely reassuring. The store was full of hats, from berets to trilbies, in the most eye-searing colors Liam had ever seen. He had picked up a blue and white striped top hat that instantly reminded him of Louis when Amy returned, holding a pile of truly outrageous hats - a bright red porkpie, a deerstalker in neon plaid and a green and purple paisley fedora.

"I found some hats you should try on," she told Seth brightly.

"Those are awful," Seth told her flatly.

"I don't know," Liam chimed in, twirling a fez with a rainbow tassel on this finger before perching it on his head. "I quite like this one. And this one," he grabbed the fedora, "would look fantastic on you."

"See, Liam agrees with me," Amy said, grabbing the hat out of Liam's hand and purposefully walking towards Seth.

"Fame has changed you," Seth told Liam darkly, backing away from Amy's bright grin.

Liam laughed and leaned against Andy, hooking his chin over Andy's shoulder to watch Seth's attempt to fend off his girlfriend. "I think you need a bow tie with that outfit."

Andy's back went stiff against Liam, and after a long minute, he ducked away from Liam, giving him the same look Seth had shot him at the bowling alley last night. "Do you feel okay, mate?"

"Yeah, sure," Liam told him, confused. "Enjoying my time off and all."

"Don't you think that's a bit queer?"

"What, Seth's hat?"

"No, how you're constantly touching everyone."

Liam thought about it. "No, not really. We mates, right? What's wrong with mates occasionally giving the other a hug?"

"Mates don't usually lean on each other like this."

Liam thought his boys and how they were constantly in each others space, bumping hips and arms slung casually over shoulders. He thought about the easy, casual affection they had for each other, and Liam wasn't stupid. He knew that his band had a different concept of personal space that most people and he remembered how strange the constant hugs and poking and the lack of personal boundaries had been during the first few weeks of live shows. Liam had spent hours locked in the bathroom of the X Factor house, frantically texting Andy "louis just lickd my face, wtf" and "harry nad zayn wont stop pullign my hair, why didnt simon put me in a band w/ normal people."

But that was before he realized that the constant hugs and hands skimming over his back were his band's way of showing affection. It had taken Liam months to realize that when the pressure and the stress of the live shows and then the record contract and trying to corral four other teenage boys into something resembling order and discipline was enough to give him a headache, Louis would drag him away from his schedule and into a hug, and make him watch a movie, still wrapped around him like an octopus, until Liam felt the tension pooling in his shoulders melt away. When the crowds surrounding them started to get larger and louder and Niall started to get claustrophobic, it felt natural for Liam to wrap an arm around him until he relaxed. And sure, maybe Harry and Louis had a special relationship, even to people who knew them, and to an outsider, Louis's obsession with pinching Liam's nipple was a bit outside the bounds of normal social interaction, but it wasn’t gay. It's just them, and Liam suddenly realized that he didn’t want to over analyze his relationship with his best friends, so he just shrugged and said, "Some mates do."

"I don't know if it's the fame, but something's changed you, mate," Andy told him.

"Either way, I think Seth would look great with a bow tie."

***

When he got back to London, Liam barely dropped his bag in his house before heading straight to Louis and Harry's apartment. Zayn and Louis were already there, sprawled on the couch watching the same marathon of Glee reruns that Liam had enjoyed with his sister during vacation. Zayn automatically lifted his legs to let Liam slip into the space between him and Louis. Liam settled down, leaning against Louis with Zayn's legs across his lap.

Louis absent-mindedly patted Liam's hair, his eyes still trained on the TV. "Have a good break, Li?"

"It was alright. Spent a lot of time with my mates from school. They think the band has turned me queer."

"Has it? Zayn asked.

Liam laughed. "Have you seen Danielle?"

"She is fit," Zayn agreed.

"They said I act differently now. That I touch people more, and that it's a bit queer."

Louis snorted. "You were practically a robot during the X Factor. Now you act normal and they're still robots."

Liam grinned, and batted Louis's hand away from where it was inching towards his chest. "Maybe, but at least no one tried to pinch my nipple this weekend."

"That means your defenses are weak and you must be trained again," Louis told him solemnly.

"The best defense is a good offense," Liam told him, smacking his hand away, then squawking when Zayn took advantage of his distraction and leaned over to tweak Liam's other nipple.

Liam elbowed Zayn in the side in retaliation before grabbing Louis's hand to prevent future attacks and settling back to enjoy the show.

"How wild is it that Glee's covered one of our songs?"

"I know," the others agreed.


End file.
